Page 90 of When She Falls (The Fallen)
Somehow, that thought doesn’t carry its usual weight.
Tonight has lowered my give-a-fuck meter to zero.
We get on the road.
“Where do you want to go?” Ras asks.
“Someplace I can get something to eat.” My appetite disappeared at dinner, but now my stomach feels empty, and it’s one of the few problems in my life that can be easily fixed.
“I drove past a twenty-four-hour diner the other day,” Ras says as he navigates us through the neighborhood.
“Let’s go there.”
“All right.”
I roll down the window and take a deep breath. There’s a hint of pine in the crisp winter air.
We pick up speed, and the wind turns cold against my skin. It takes the edge off the unpleasant energy that’s coursing through my body, but barely.
I glance over at the man sitting beside me.
Ras must have felt this way before. Helpless, confused, betrayed. He’s got nearly a decade on me, and he hasn’t lived an easy life. Maybe he can give me some advice.
“Did your old don ever lie to you?”
“Sal?”
“Yeah.”
His lips curl into a wry smile. “I used to wonder if he’d ever told us the truth.”
Us.Him and Damiano. They’ve always been partners. Always watched each other’s backs.
I don’t have anyone like that anymore. Not since Vale left.
“Did it ever make you mad that you couldn’t do anything about it?”
He adjusts his grip on the wheel, rings flashing on his long, thick fingers. “Sure.”
“How did you let that anger go?”
Ras’s curious gaze coasts over to me. I can tell he wants to ask about what happened tonight, but I don’t think he wants to rush me. “Hit the bag. That usually does the trick. You want to land a few punches?”
“No, I’m good.” There are people I want to hit, but none of them are Ras.
“Any physical activity works,” he adds as an afterthought.
He probably means running or hiking, but that’s not where my mind goes. It goes to skin moving over skin, his hand molding to my breast, his lips pressed to the spot behind my ear.
I drag my palms down my thighs and look out the window.
We get to the diner. The parking lot is empty save for an old truck. Only one half of the sign above the door is lit, but it’s enough to make out the name.Jack’s Spot.
We’re greeted by a young waitress with pink streaks in her blond hair. She takes us to a table in the far corner and hands out two laminated menus.
I order a peach milkshake and a burger. If Mamma saw me now, she’d have a heart attack.
Ras gets a burger and fries.
